Truss construction



ct. 192 0 7 H. T.,KRAFT TRUSS CONSTRUCTION Filed July 11, 1925 INVENTOR7/9/7294? 1 [@a/f,

laY'zly- ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 11, 1927.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HERMAN T. KRAFT, OF AKRON, OHIO, ASSIGNOB TO THE GOODYEAR TIRE OHIO, ACORPORATION OF. OHIO.

COMPANY, OF AKRON,

& RUBBER TBUSS CONSTRUCTION.

Application filed July 11, 1925. Serial No. 43,006.

My present invention relates to fabricated trusses or columns and it hasparticular relation to structures of the character designated which areadapted to be" employed in 6 the superstructure of rigid or semi-rigidairshi s.

(l ne object of my invention consists in providing a novel type ofcolumn or girder which is relatively light in weight, simple 10 andinexpensive in construction, and which is particularly adapted towithstand great bendin or compressive stresses.

Anot er object of my invention is to provide a column or girder in whichcomparatively few structural members are embodied and in which a novelmeans of reinforcement is employed. g

' Heretofore, in the construction of girders and columns for thesuperstructure of aircraft, particularly those employed in rigidairships, an excessive amount of labor was required in securing togetherthe lattice work incident to the fabrication of such trusses.

This being true, it will be apparent thatv structures of this nature canbe produced economically only in localities where labor is plentiful andin the roduction of devices in which the cost of suc minor item ofconsideration with respect to .30 the total expense.

Instead of employing a great number of separate lattice members in theconstruction of structural elements of an aircraft, I have providedsheets of metal so perforated that web members similar to the latticemembers are formed integrally with the longitudinal elements of the.trusses or girders. This form ofstructure insures more inherent strengththan that found in trusses formed 40 by separately riveting numerouslattice members.- Moreover, in structures where numerous rivetsare'employed, the riveting often causes well-known undesirable variationin the strength of such structures. The ratio between the value of wastematerial caused by perforating or punching sheet metal in constructing acolumn in accordance with my invention and the labor cost inconstructing labor is a relatively an intricate lattice work, favors thepunching process of'manufacture as being very mile less expensive. Asecond feature of my invention consists in providing novel reinforcingmembers adapted to be used in conjunction with girders or trusses of theusual quadrilateral or triangular cross-section. These reinforcingmembers are in the form of tubular or angular members secured to thecolumns at the points where longitudinal elements are connected, thusproviding great strength at the 00 point where it is most needed, thatis, along the corners defined by the angular configuration of the truss.

For a better understanding of my invention reference may now be had tothe accom- 5 panying drawings, forming a part of this specification, ofwhich;

Fig.1 is a perspective view of a triangular column or girder constructedin accordance with the principles of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a structural web member, the sectionbeing taken substantially along the line II-11 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is aperspective view of a triangular truss illustrating another form of myinvention; Y F i I Fig. .4 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of atruss member illustratinganother form w 'ch my invention may assume; and

Fig. 5 is .afragmentary cross-sectional view similar to that shown inFig. 4 illustrat- 1izng an'additional embodimentof my inven- 1011; Inpracticing my, invention,

I have provlded a column or girder 10 which consists of com resion,shearing or'any' other stresses to w 'ch trusses of this naturearecommonly sub'ected;

or the purpose of reducing the weight of '5 the truss and at the sametime maintaining adequate stren ,h thereof, each of the members 11, 12,an 13 is perforated or punched, as indicated at 16, in order to formintegral web or lattice members 17, extending diagonall of the truss.Additional transverse inte al members 18 are formed at the ends of t emembers 11, 12, and 13. Further rigidity and stren is added to themember 17 by crimpin t e central portion 19 and bengmg the ges 20, asclearly illustrated in ig. 2. The crimping operation may be accomplishedin the same operation as that by which'the side members are perforated.

The form of my invention illustrated in Fig. 3 is similar to that shownin Fig. 1 with the exception that the tubular edges are omitted andreinforcing T-shape bars 22 are employed at the corners of the truss andare confined between the adjacent edges of the members 11, 12, and 13.Suitable rivets 23 secure the side members and the T-shape memberstogether. The stamped or punched configuration of the side members 11,12,and 13 illustrated in this embodiment of my invention is ident calwith that described with reference to Fig. 1.

An additional form of my invention, as illustrated in Fig. 4, relates toa reinforcing structure suitable for incorporation at the corners formedby the adjacent edges of the members 11, 12, and 13. The reinforcingmembers, in this instance, consist of a tubular member 24 formed of twoarcuate conjugate sections 25 and 26 of sheet metal which extendlongitudinally of the truss members 11, 12, and 13. Flanges 27 and 28formed upon the sections 25 and 26, respectively, engage each other andprovide connecting edges which are secured to the members 12 and 13 bymeans of conventional rivets 29. If it is desired to provide stillgreater strength at the corners of the truss, an additional tubularmember 30 may be disposed within the member 24. I

Referring to Fig. 5, I have illustrated another form of my invention inwhich a tubular member 32 is secured at the corners of the truss member.This tubular member is provided with integral flanges 33 and 34 whichare adapted to be riveted to the side members'12 and 13, as indicated at35.

From the foregoing description it will be apparent that I have provideda novel construction of truss or girder which is composed of relativelynew elements andwhich is adapted to offer great resistance to bending ortensional forces to which the superstructure of an aircraft may besubjected.

Although I have illustrated but the preferred forms which my inventionmay assume and have described those forms in detail, it will be apparentto those skilled in the art that the invention is not so limited butthat various minor modifications and changes may be made therein withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention or from the scope of theappended claims.

What I claim is: v

1. A rigid metal support comprising elongate members riveted togetherand tubular remforcing elements symmetrically arranged with respect tothe members extending longitudinally of the support.

2. A metal column comprising a plurality of elongate side members havingintegral crimped lattice members formed therein, substantially closedtubular reinforcing members tangentially disposed with respect to eachother and to the side members, and securing means connecting the sidemembers along the line of the reinforcing members.

3. A rigid elongate metal support comprisin a plurality of substantiallyflat angularly isposed plates connected together adjacent their edges,each of said plates being composed of a single piece of stamped metal oflattice configuration and substantially closed tubular reinforcingmeansformed in pairs'tangent to each-other on the edges of said plates.4

4. A rigid elongate metal support comprising a plurality of angularlydisposed perforated side members, rivets for interconnecting the membersadjacent their edges and tubular reinforcing members encasing the headsof the rivets, said tubular members lExtending along the edges of theside memers.

- 5. A column comprising a plurality of metal side members securedtogether adjacent their edges, integral elongate web mem bers extendingbetween the edgesofeach side member, rivets connecting the-side membersadjacent their edges and tubular members formed integrally from theedges of each side member beyond the. rivets in tangentially disposedpairs."

-6. A metal irder comprising a plurality of'elongate side members, theedges of the side members meeting at angles to each other, each of theside members comprising a plurality of crimped web portions formed bystamping, and an integral tubular portion formed separately along eachof the edges of said side members.

7. A metal support comprising a plurality of angularly disposed sidemembers connected together, crimped lattice members formed integral witheach side member integral inturned flanges entirely surrounding eachopening formed -by the lattice members and longitudinally extendingoppositely rolled tubular members formed integral with thecontiguousedges of said side members.

8. A rigid metal support comprising elongate members rigidlyinterconnected at their edges and reinforcing units for thesupportsymmetrical with r ect to the members and arranged externa y ofthe inter- 5 connected edges.

9. A rigid metal support comprising elongate members rigidlyinterconnected adjacent their ed'ges in polygonal formation andlongitudinal reinforcing members extending beyond the interconnectedportions symmet- 1 .rlcally arranged with respect to the edges of theadjacent elongate members.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name.

HERMAN T. KRAFT.

